Tuesday, June 07, 2011

I LOATHE ANTS.

Sorry, Major Rant about to take place--can I just say, I HATE ants? Those pesky little black sugar ants, that never, ever, ever, ever EVER give up??? You know that stupid song about the ant and the Rubber Tree plant? Well, the house we're currently living in, is that rubber tree plant, trust me. UGH.

Let me just preface this by saying I've never had ants before, in any house I've lived in. Or if I have, I think I sprayed once, because they were coming in from the outside and they stopped coming in, and that was that.

THIS HOUSE, which we are currently renting, has a crawlspace INFESTED with the little buggers. Nothing seems to get rid of them! Pest control hasn't killed them. I've tried sprays, foggers, pepper, vinegar, (in my kitchen to keep them at bay) and the fixes are always temporary, because they find another crack in the crawlspace and come up into the house somewhere else. It drives me fershlugging NUTS!!!!! They are in the second floor bathrooms, going after the toothpaste and soap. They love Hubby's computer in the master bedroom for some reason. I can't leave even ONE tiny crumb of food on the wood floors on the first floor (YOU try and keep on top of that with four kids in the house) or we get swarmed.

I am going crazy. It's just a little embarrassing when we have people over, and while we're all laughing at the table and talking, an ant or two will run across the top of the table--just enough to embarrass me and freak out our guests. One of my sons likes to smoosh them with his finger tip. My 4-year old steps on them. I SPRAY and SPRAY. Which usually holds them off for a few days, but they find other ways in. It's like we're being INVADED. Since we're only in this house 6 more weeks I don't really want to call in another pest control guy, and spend several hundred dollars--so I get 6 more weeks of freaking ANTS.

For the INSIDE -- I've kept them away because they HATE cayenne pepper, mint, and tansy.

I have mint plants on the front and back porch at each door. I have cayenne pepper across the doorsills and windows, and I'm getting tansy bushes to keep in big pots front and back. Costume Imp told me to buy big bottles of cayenne pepper/red pepper flakes at the dollar store and use them in the garden and around the house -- it works.

You might be able to "herd" them out of the house by building barriers, and then seal it off, so they don't come back.

I've also been pouring boiling water from the kettle down their little holes, but it's hurt the lawn, so I can only do it on the driveway and walk. You have to do it twice a day early in the morning and just after twilight for about two weeks for it to work.

Ants also hate pennyroyal, but it's very dangerous to pregnant women. I will probably get a small pot of it for the deck, but I need to keep it moveable, in case I get visitors who are pregnant.

Can't have pest control in because what they use would kill the cats and put me in the hospital.

So, I'm doing what people have found that works for hundreds of years . . .